A range of cha dao (different Chinese character to the way of tea
cha 'dao'), tea tools and complete sets are available to meet your
preferences, budget and to match tea sets and trays.

The different accessories are a critical part of the traditional GongFu tea ceremony
and as with items such as the tea trays, many of the gongfu tea
accessories are purposely crafted from natural materials such as wood
and bamboo.

Tea clippers allow the Cha Shi, the person serving the tea, to
rinse the cups in hot tea and to serve the guest without coming into
contact with the cup. It takes much practice to become deft at using
these, but once you do they become very practical and yet another way to
enhance the whole experience. Like with any tool, eventually their use
becomes an extension of the user.

The tea needle can be used for unblocking tea pots spouts and also
removing spent tea leaves from tea pots and gai wan. The cha ze, or tea
funnel, is commonly used for pouring/guiding the tea leaves from the
cha he (a small vessel for holding and displaying the loose tea leaves)
in to the gai wan or tea pot. Tea spoons are a convenient way of
measuring out the tea and either placing in to a cha he or directly in
to the tea making pot. The funnel or cha rou dou can be seen in use in
our making tea - Zi Sha Tea Pot page.

Cha dao, tea tools are available from the mass produced sets to
individually hand made tea tools. Opposite you can see an ornately
finished set of bamboo clippers and also (above) a complete set that has
been crafted to retain the natural characteristics of the bamboo as
much as possible.

Opposite can be seen a carved pot for storing and displaying tea
tools, along side which we see a funnel, spoon, cha ze, clipper and
needle.

An aspect that intrigues many people on visiting a Chinese tea
shop or home, are the range of often strange looking animals &
creatures sat on or by the tea tray. These are usually made from the
semi-porous Zi Sha clay, which has been made famous by tea pots and
other cooking wares of YiXing.

Initially it can be shocking to watch expensive tea being poured
away over these 'tea pets' or lucky charms, but from practical point of
view the tea, over time, alters the colour and appearance of the clay.
More importantly from a spiritual perspective people believe that
"feeding" the creatures ensures an on going flow of good fortune;
harmony; peace and that evil is kept at bay. They are yet another
example of art, religion and tea being closely entwined.